LYNSEY SHAW OF ELECTRIC DOLLS SPEAKS TO DONSTOPTHEPOP

The Electric Dolls!

Seeing as Dontstopthepop loves girl bands it seemed natural to actually speak to a member of not just one poptastic girl-group but two! The Pop Princess Lynsey Shaw once belonged to the Stock/Aitken cult pop band Girls@Play (she was the cop) and now finds herself in the envious position of being a member the uberglam band The Electric Dolls. Although they've just begun their probably epic journey through Planet Pop! the Electric Dolls are already creating waves (groan!) within the music industry and beyond. They were girlband no.126 in our girlband essay and as you'll read below "legend status" is pretty much theirs before even a single is out...

Lynsey flaps her fans

DontstopthePop: Darling, you’re a pop legend! More than that, a Girlband legend-unlike many girlband members you’ve been in two. Two! Why, sweetie, why?

Linsey: Because I love my gals! I guess the time I had in G@P left me scarred for life and forever wanting to recreate the happy tour van of screaming women! Well kind of!? To be honest the visual impact of a gang of girls is very powerful and I like the concept & visuals that come with Electric Dolls. Maybe I just have a girlie dressing up fetish...??? It has been said before!

As a 14 year-old girl Loughborough lass what were you dancing to on your walkman when you should have been doing your history homework?

Do u know I have a very vivid memory of being at the bus stop on my way home from school at around 12 or so listening to a tape i'd made up of Elvis songs from my Dad's very large record collection. I think I still have it somewhere! I had a HUGE thing for Elvis, still do! (I was such a geek). By the time I'd blossomed & hit 14 it was Madonna all the way! Like A Prayer album probably!

I’ve always dreamt that the Girls@Play ‘shelved’ album somehow went missing Vicky Pollard style and found itself online. Tracks like Brand New Car and When Love Takes Over You sound rather enticing! Care to flare?

Well u remember more than me! When Love Takes Over You... god I'm not sure I can even hmmm it now! Brand New Car... well now there was a knee busting dance routine if ever I saw one! I remember feeling very proud of the fact that I got to wear knee pads for that... just like one of my heroes Janet Jackson. I believe I really was a part of the Rhythm Nation! "If you had a brand new car... u wouldn't get far with me!" Well you'll have to call up Mike & Matt and see if they can be persuaded to put all the old tracks together and get the album out there.... finally! Otherwise, check out myspace. I'll see if I can get Brand New Car up there soon! ;-)

Are you aware that Girls@Play have a huge cult following?

Girls@Play: LoveThis Babes

Well I have an inkling in that every now & then I'll get a text or a call from a friend in a club somewhere who's listening to us being played or they have the video on a big screen, we're talking mainly gay clubs here! I also was quite chuffed to see that one of the comments on youtube about Airhead was from a fan in New Zealand who loved G@P... couldn't believe they'd heard of us in that hemisphere!!

What did you do with your baton?

Oh... I still have it! As I always used to say... "Every mark on it (still) tells a story"! I have all my cop outfits and hardware!!!! Apart from a pair of handcuffs that got confiscated in Barcelona airport! Now you try telling airport security you're in a girlband, and that's why you're carrying handcuffs and a night stick, with only pictures and hand gestures! That WAS funny!

Is Thursday pink or purple?

Purple... Wednesday's pink.

What are Electric Dolls about and why they stand out from other girlbands?

Well... check out the look for a start... I think we stand out! Hopefully visually & musically. We're Barbarella, meets stepford wives, meets Gwen Stefani, meets Madonna, meets Spice Girls, meets Prince... now there's a great dinner party guest list! Or as we say on the myspace site we're bit of Gwen, a bit of Prince, a bit of Madge & a bit of chintz! And to go with the image & quirky style, lyrics & music in a quirky style! Ta-dah!

The straight boys at my local comprehensive often talked about baps. Often after football in the showers. I thought they were praising the qualities of the canteen sandwiches. I’m thinking Baps R Baking is also about sandwiches. Am I wrong?

Yes it's about fluffy fresh bread baking in the oven. Mmmmm don't you just love the smell of baking bread? Not a smell you'd usually equate with dancing in a club, granted, but then who wants usual? I am, after all, a great cook and it seems the boys at your school obviously appreciated good baps when they saw them!

Would you be the bread or the ham?

Oooh the ham in a Sawyer (from Lost) & Michael (from Prison Bake... I mean Break) sandwich!



There is something really Gilbert & George about Electric Dolls. Its like if you were artists you’d be in Tate Modern before you can say Tracey Emin. Why’d ya think that is?

Oooh I like that! I was thinking more Pierre et Gilles but I like Gilbert & George too! Maybe it's because when i dream it's not only in colour but in Pop Art too!? Also my parents influence (both trained artists) and my art & fashion college background!? What do YOU think??

Who is more respectable? Girls@Play or Electric Dolls?

"We ain't never gonna be respectable!" Period! (Or have any respectable periods).

When is the Electric Dolls album due?

Well we need to get the material together first. It's all hectic in the studio at the minute! I'm in tomorrow and was there today. We're working hard, writing new songs all the time in the Baps style! New tunes include a track called Supercute & another called Love Me Long Time all coming to a myspace near you very soon! But when we're ready we'll get our toned Dolly asses to a record campany & thrash out a deal...(yes A&R people form an orderly queue).

Electric Rabbit or Electric toothbrush?

Erm do you mean the energiser bunny? I'm not sure what you mean? Well you'd have a job cleaning your teeth with the rabbit but you could probably improvise with the toothbrush... but erm lets just say they each have their time, place and value.

Dannii or Kylie?

Kylie Kylie Kylie!

Barbie or the Britney Spears doll?

Does the Britney Doll come with a shaved head, portable re-hab clinic, a trailer & 2 disposable babies???? Britney Doll for sure... with changable wigs & cigarette holder!

Should a song that asks whether Europe wants “some salted nuts” really represent Britain at Eurovision? (I’m talking of Flying the Flag by Scooch)

Hmmmm good question! I mean it worked for Chef from South Park didn't it? Although the items in that song were chocolate balls... I have to say that if we can even consider Jordan, pregnant, in pink rubber, it really does throw the doors wide open doesn't it!? I say good luck to them! I think that's all a girl in a band who wrote a song called Baps R Baking can say!

And lastly, Can’t Get You Out Of My Head or Outta My Head?

Aaaaaah that's too hard! I have to go with Outta My Head... it has too many lovely memories attached to it for me to deny!

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I'd like to thank Lynsey, Electric Dolls and Mac for the photos!
Check out their myspace for more very exciting details on their rise to pop infamy!
LostInLimbo will feature Electric Dolls very soon and LiL is offering YOU a chance to ask questions yourself
Discover a world of Girls@Play brilliance over at Mobius!

If you like Electric Dolls check out Pay-TV as they've just redone their website with album news!!!!! (excited!)
DSTP has some very cool Robyn news....coming up as soon as we get confirmation!